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Wednesday, 28 September 2011

magical rolls

My cake friend calls these Magical Rolls.

That was the subject heading of her email which was sent to me right after she had them for breakfast. She had made a batch of magical rolls...aka Cinnamon Rolls following the recipe posted by The Little Teochew. So, what's so magical about these rolls?

First of all, the dough doesn't require any kneading, yet, the finished texture is as soft as any Asian kind of soft buns. My cake friend is also very surprised that the rolls are made with plain flour instead of bread flour. Aren't bread buns made with bread flour, won't plain flour produces a 'cake-like' texture? The answer is No. Magical, isn't it?

Next, the delicious sweet scent of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven magically transformed her kitchen into some cinnamon rolls speciality shop. For the benefit of those from a different era, cinnamon rolls were so popular many years back. Sad to say, they were like one of those fad foods, came and went so quickly, not very different from the rotiboy or the donut craze.

My friend's family polished off all 15 rolls during breakfast. I am sure, any self-taught home bakers would feel so proud and satisfied to be able to replicate something so close to what the professionals are churning out from the bakery stores.

Naturally, I got hooked to these magical rolls after hearing my friend raved about them.

I was all eager to give it a try until I studied the step by step tutorial posted by the original author of the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls. After going through the list of ingredients, I had some reservations about making them. I was really taken aback by the amount of sugar and butter that goes into making the cinnamon fillings and frosting. I am seriously not willing to pile on the pounds again. The big portion is also another issue.

Fortunately, I stumbled upon a small batch version posted by kitchenMage. This smaller portion yields 12 rolls which I thought is just right for the three of us. I have also taken the liberty to cut down on the butter and sugar for filling, and I omitted the frosting completely.

Making the dough was a breeze, just a simple mixing of the ingredients, and really, there is no kneading required. I left the dough to chill over night so that it will be more firm to work on. Even then, the dough was still very soft and sticky. The only way to get around it was to dust the work surface and the dough, generously, with flour to prevent it from sticking.

I can't agree more that these are really magical rolls! The texture is so soft and light! Even without the icing, I find them very delicious. They are not overly sweet, nor sticky or gooey. I couldn't stop at just one, and with the reduced butter and sugar, I didn't feel guilty even when I reached out for the third one ;)

Ok, now, stop gawking. The only way for you to enjoy these freshly baked cinnamon rolls is to go make them yourself :)

Mix milk, sugar and vegetable oil in a pan. Scald (heat until just before boiling) the mixture. Leave to cool for 45mins ~ 1 hour.

Place 250g (2 cups) plain flour and Instant yeast in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the above mixture. Stir with a spatula until the mixture comes together to form a thick batter. (If using Active Dry Yeast, sprinkle the yeast into the mixture and let it sit for a minute before adding it to the plain flour.) Cover and let the batter sit for at least 1 hour.

Add in the remaining 30g (1/4 cup) flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until the mixture comes together. Either go ahead to make the rolls or cover and leave to chill in fridge over night or until needed. If left to chill, check the dough and punch it down by folding with a spatula if the dough rises almost to the rim of the mixing bowl. (Note: dough will be more firm and easier to work with if left to chill in fridge).

When ready to make the rolls, mix ground cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.

Dust the work surface freely with flour. Dust the top and bottom of dough with flour. Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape. Then roll out as thin as possible. Dust the dough and work surface with flour when necessary.

Brush the rolled out dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture evenly over the surface.

Start from the opposite end of the dough, roll the dough neatly in a line towards you. Roll as tightly as possible. Dust fingers with flour if the dough feels sticky. Pinch the seams to seal.

Cut into 1 inch thick slices and arrange on baking pan lined with parchment paper (or greased with butter). Place the rolls close together so that they are almost touching.

Cover and leave to rise for 30mins (1 hour if dough was left to chill over night) or until the rolls double in size. (Note: the rolls can be left to chill in the fridge over night and bake them the next morning. If rolls have doubled in size, bake them right away. Otherwise leave to sit on counter until double in size before baking.)

Curlylashesbaker, plain flour is different from bread flour (which has higher gluten level). Plain flour should be easily available anywhere, maybe it is known as some other name, such as all-purpose flour，or 普通面粉 in Chinese. In any case, you may replace it with bread flour as one blogger has tried it and there is not much difference in the texture.

Jacqueline, yes, you may use caster sugar.

Anncoo, yes, just a few strokes with a spatula will do, unbelievable right?!

Hi HHB, thank you very much for sharing this magic recipe. After reading your post yesterday, I quickily get into the kitchen to try it as my little one was sleeping. Then this morning I wake early to roll it up and bake for our breakfast. Ohh..that's fantastic! Never go wrong using recipes that you have tried always! Cheers!!PS: although it's quite a mess for the rolling up process and I didn't roll it up nicely but, that texture is truly amazing!!

neyeeloh, yes, minimum washing, just a spatula and a mixing bowl. The dough is quite soft and sticky, so need to dust with flour. I also lined my table with a plastic sheets for easy cleaning. Hope you have fun making them :)

Grace, it is great to hear that you managed to find time to bake these rolls! I agree, the rolling part is the most difficult. I still cannot get over that the texture is so good even without kneading the dough ;)

After reading so many positive comments, I should quickly go to make it. So attractive when it is "no knead" and "can break it into parts to complete". I am still wondering what to do with my instant yeast after my breadmaker broke down ... next week dh gog overseas liao .. *sigh* small portion should be good :) Thanks for sharing and I hope I can write in my blog about me baking it too :)

Hi HHB, I saw neyeeloh's blog of making the same bread roll but she mentioned that the dough is actually very sticky and quite difficult to roll up, so can you share with me what's the secret of making the job perfect? like yours? Thanks

Hi Jessie, as mentioned in my instructions above, it is better to chill the dough overnight, this way it will be firmer to work with. However, it will still feels sticky and soft. So dust the work surface, rolling pin, dough (top and bottom as you roll it out), your hands with flour. See details on the instructions above. I used about 2 heaping tablespoons of flour for dusting. Just dust lightly as and when necessary to prevent sticking. For easy cleaning, I lined my table with two plastic sheets (cut out from clear plastic bags). Hope this helps :)

Hi Happy Homebaker! Just wanted to let you know after I saw this entry I had to give these magical rolls a try!!! and it was really simple :D and they turned out great! I could have improved on some things but that's for my next try :P I also plan to try different fillings.. e.g. chocolate, cheese and ham.. and see how it turns out ^^" thanks for the recipe! I'm going to blog about my ones soon and i shall give credit to you and your blog :)

Hi HHB, I'm baking these rolls right now. Very excited, Can't wait to eat it! Hope it turn out nice. I had a hard time rolling it out, dusted a lot of flour but still sticky. Hope it will not affect too much the texture. How did you get those rolls neatly rolled up? The thickness of your swirls are so equal. You must see mine, fatty and messy hehe.. Thanks for your sharing!

I tried this but it was a NG for me.I couldn't get the dough to roll and it was very sticky despite being kept in fridge for overnight.It basically sticks to whatever that touches it.. -_-'''Dusting everything with flour doesn't seems to help either...

Is there somewhere that I went wrong??I'm sure I followed your recipe to the "T".

Hi Just G Bakez, sorry to hear about your unsuccessful attempt. If you have used the flour to dust the dough and the work surface, it should not be sticky. Not sure whether you got the measurement of the ingredients correct?

Just G Bakez, did you manage to stir the mixture so that it forms a soft dough before chilling it over night? If the ingredient amount is correct, the only step that could go wrong would be the mixing. You may also try lining your work surface with plastic sheets (cut out from clear grocery plastic bags) or cling wrap. I think the dough will not stick too much onto the plastic sheet. I hope you will give it a try again.

Hi HHB, I've tried your recipe and the rolls were indeed magical! I added raisins to the filling. The second time I did this I reduced the butter to 40g and found that the rolls were just very slightly drier than my first attempt but still very tasty. May I know how you cut the rolls up so evenly? After I cut mine the rolls no longer look like rolls and they are quite messy and ugly. I love your pictures of these rolls, especially the ones before baking. Thank you for this wonderful post! Cheers,Butterfingers

Hi Butterfingers, I cut it with a sharp knife (a chef knife), just push the knife down without 'sawing'. The cut rolls did deformed a bit, but after I arranged them on the tray, and after proofing, they became rounded again.

just wondering, how do you compare this recipe to the water-roux version you have from 2010? which is softer? which is better? which one would you make more often?from the picture that you posted of the water-roux version, it seems more like a chinese bread texture (also looks softer), but it could be because you ripped it instead of cutting it like you did with PW's version here.

hi, the texture are about the same, both are equally soft. but I would think the water roux method gives a slightly more fluffy texture. The only problem with the water-roux method is, the dough is quite wet and sticky, which makes it difficult to knead by hand, takes about at least 30mins or more to get to the window pane stage. Whereas for this recipe, even the dough is sticky, it doesn't require any kneading. I will make this more often as I have problem kneading by hand ever since I have developed a chronic pain on my shoulders. I have not made bread for a long time.

thank you so much for your reply! i will first try PW's recipe!i am sorry to hear about your chronic pain. why don't you try using a bread machine or a stand mixer for kneading?thanks for posting the smaller batch recipe too. =)

Hi, thanks for your concern :):)My bread machine broke down a couple of years back. I am too cheapo to spend money to get a stand mixer...I hardly use my electric handheld mixer, so a stand mixer will be a white elephant in my kitchen. I am still trying to look for a cheap less than $70 bread machine though ;)

This is indeed a great recipe, easy to make and yet delicious. Even my 3 year old son can finish three rolls in a row (he probably would have more if I didn't stop him). Thanks so much for sharing, HHB. I will definitely make it again.

Personally i tried making cinnamon buns before but the dough didn't rise at all; it made me pretty much depressed so much so i didn't wanna bake anymore cinnamon buns. BUT, when i came across your recipe and the pictures you showed us, it just rekindled my hope in baking the buns! <3 and certainly with you recipe and the detailed instructions given, the dough really risen double its size and the final results were absolutely "MAGICAL" ^^, THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING! i'll certainly try out all the recipes you have shared on this lovely page. <3 :)

Hi HHB,I've tried your recipe and it doesn't worked out. The dough is really sticky and it seems too wet after the liquid mixture is added. I even chilled in the fridge for an hour before rolling out. A lot of flour was used during the rolling out process. The worst thing is it didn't even rises, i left it in the oven for nearly an hour. The texture was dense after baking. Can u tell me what could have went wrong? Thanks.

Selbsy, sorry to hear that the recipe didnt work well for you. The dough is quite wet and sticky, but if you chill it over night, the dough will be easier to handle.

May I ask what type of yeast do you use? I use Instant Yeast which can be mixed directly with the other ingredients. However if you are using Active Dry Yeast, you need to activate (see step 2). Or maybe your yeast has expired? maybe that was why the dough didnt rise?

I'm eager to try this no-knead method since my bread machine broke down! am I right to assume then that this bread base can be used for other fillings right? Am hoping to make a Basil, garlic, tomato bread.

Do you mind sharing what brand of yeast you used? Instant yeast from Bake King bottle any good? Or those sachet form? Thanks a mil!

Hi, I tried these rolls and although they didn't come out that great (I skipped the freezing overnight part) the first time I tried them, they came out absolutely delicious and smelling divine in my second attempt. I brought them out of the oven and they were gone in seconds :) Making some more again tonight after work. Wondering if I could cut down on some butter in the filling without impacting its divinity drastically.

Stumbled upon your site 2 days ago and loving your recipes. I love that you customised your recipe with low sugar and butter.

I tried this rolls today and followed your recipe and instructions to the dot. But, the dough was very mess and super sticky. If I'm not wrong I had to add extra 1 cup flour before and after rolling. The dough was very mess to roll out despite I chilled my dough overnight. Not sure what's wrong.

But, the final result was good but not magical. Next time, I probably cut down the liquid to 1/2 or 3/4. Thank you for nice recipe. Hope I'll find my success next time :-)

Hi HHB, I tried these magical rolls. My roll sizes were only one fourth of yours and it was very small. I read your recipe again and again. I think I rolled it very thin. But the taste was very good and this was my best of all what I have baked. It was so nice of you to answer all the comments in spite of your busy schedule. I read all the comments so that I will not make the same mistake. Thank you very much for your effort and time.

Hi, not sure what went wrong, maybe your yeast was not working well? I am able to make about 15 rolls, my baking pan is about 12"by 9"by 2" ht. Yes, these rolls are very delicious will be making a batch too!

Hi, I chilled the dough and baked them yesterday. Although the dough was chilled, it was very soft, light, fluffy and sticky to touch. I had to use a lot of flour to get it off the table during the process of rolling and on the rolling pin. It was not easy. I couldn't roll it tight at all so the swirl was not quite there. In fact the batter was so limp with basically no shape after I managed to cut them into smaller rolls. The smell was great though during the baking process. My rolls were crispy and there was not much taste of the cinnamon powder within the roll. The taste was accumulated on top of the rolls only. Can you please advise me what did I do wrong as I want to try again? Thanks!

Hi Ai Li, the dough is very soft and sticky and yes you need to use lots of flour for dusting. What I have been doing now is, to prevent the dough from sticking, I lined my table with cling wraps. Then dust the cling wrap surface and the dough with flour before rolling the dough. keep dusting the rolling pin lightly with flour once it starts to stick to the dough. After brushing the dough with the filling, work with your finger tips to roll up the dough, do it very SLOWLY, moving/rolling the dough a little bit each time. I find that with the dough wont stick too much to the cling wrap.

Not sure whether u meant the cinnamon filling was not strong enough for your taste? If yes, by all means use more cinnamon powder. If u meant that the filling 'came up' to the top instead of within the rolls, then it could probably because your rolls rose high up during the 2nd proof and during baking, pushing the filling to the top. This could likely be due to your rolling as there was not much of a swirl?

Thank you so much for help! I think you have nailed all the points. The other question : what is the texture of the roll? Is it soft and fluffy like those kaya or coconut buns sold in the bakeries or are they like pastry? Sorry for not being able to explain well here. Appreciate your help!

Hi Ai Li, they are quite soft and the texture is just like bread buns...definitely not like pastry crust. of course since they are homemade buns without any addictives such as bread improvers, the texture wont be as cottony soft as those kaya or coconut buns from bakeries. hope u know what I mean.

I just made these last night after reading the recipe. I have mad PW cinnamon rolls before but they make TOO many, so thank you for this!

These were easy to make, despite my fear of yeast. My dough was not sticky though, and after reading the comments I was surprised. I also left out the salt!! UGH! I am going to make them again tomorrow with the salt. Cheers, Lori

Hi. I made the dough yesterday. Added instant yeast to the flour mixture together with the milk, oil and sugar mixture, and let it sit for an hour. It did not rise though. After that I added the rest of the ingredients and cover to sit in the refrigerator overnight. It never rose when I checked this morning. In fact the texture was like a soft batter still, just like kaya. Not sure what went wrong. :(

Hi, not sure whether it is due to the yeast, baking powder or baking soda? Are they 'fresh' or near expiry? How do you store your yeast? Yeast loose its life/effectiveness very easily once the package is opened. Any left over yeast is best stored in the freezer.

Hi Chong sun sun, did you preheat your oven before baking? Do you use an oven thermometer to check that your oven it preheated to the required temperature. Try not to open the oven door during the baking otherwise the temperature will drop.

To check for doneness, the surface of the roll should be golden browned and when u lightly press the buns/rolls it should spring back. You can also check whether they are cooked by pulling the centre roll to check whether the bottom is done. Hope this helps and hope you have success on your next attempt :)

I tried this recipe , but the dough is toooo watery and no firmness at all. Even after i chill it in the fridge overnight, i did not rise. What is wrong? :( i used to bake bread, and turn out all right. But this is difficult :(

Hi Valencia, not sure what happened, did you get the measurement of the flour or liquid correct? What about the yeast or baking powder, are they fresh or near expiry? The dough is very soft and wet. You need to dust with lots of flour.